Collaboration
by Mike Teavee Obsessive
Summary: When Wonka brings the tour to an abrupt end, Charlie, Augustus, Veruca, Violet and Mike must learn the true value of teamwork to save themselves from the terrors of the factory, and from each other. [2005Movie]
1. Disclaimer

**DISCLAIMER:**

I do not own the wonder that is _Charlie and the Chocolate Factory_. I do not own Willy Wonka. Or Charlie Bucket. Or Augustus Gloop. Or Veruca Salt. Or Violet Beauregarde. Or Mike Teavee (as much as I'd _love_ to own Mike Teavee…).  
Is that clear enough?  
OK.  
On with the story!  
.x.Sess.x.


	2. Chapter One: Seperation

**Author's note: **I really have no idea where this came from – suddenly, one morning, the entire plot came into my head along with a few useable lines and passages of description. All I can say is – SCORE!  
Anyway, this fic is about the CatCF crew getting diverted from the tour and taken from their parents, having to rely on their intuition and teamwork to get out alive.

**1. Seperation**

Everybody has That Day. The day where their lives change forever. Sometimes it's That Hour. It can even be as precise as That Minute or That Second. Charlie Bucket, Augustus Gloop, Veruca Salt, Violet Beauregard and Mike Teavee (not to mention their respective guardians) all had That Day on the first of February.

The kids were all having a great time in the Chocolate Room (apart from Violet and Mike who were a little bit bored) when Wonka suddenly stopped explaining about the pipes that carried the chocolate around the factory and held up a hand to announce, "Well, I think that's enough, don't you?"  
The group looked amongst themselves in confusion. Did he mean the tour was over already? Or was he going to stop talking and let them go off by themselves?  
"Buh-bye!" he said with a weird glint in his eye. The ground beneath them started to shudder and give way at their feet. Grandpa Joe flung his arms round Charlie protectively. In fact, most of the parents scrabbled to cling to their offspring. Even Mike felt no shame in trying to cling back when they began to fall into a seemingly never-ending pit. Veruca's screams drowned out most of the others as the families were ripped apart from each other, the children going one way, the parents going another.

Charlie started to sob as he screamed.  
Veruca yelled "Daddyyyyyyyy!" shrilly.  
Augustus was saying various German words very fast and very loud.  
Violet gave a series of varying yelps.  
Mike was giving an impressive stream of obscenities.

It seemed like eternity until they landed, all on top of one another.  
"Get OFF me!" Violet, Veruca and Mike shouted in unison.  
"Hey!" Veruca said angrily, "I'M the only one who's supposed to be bossy, here!"  
"Whatever!" Mike retorted, scrabbling to get up, "I'M the school bully! You do what I say!"  
"If anyone should be in charge here, it should be me!" Violet interrupted, "I have 263 trophies."  
"So what?" Veruca challenged.  
"SO, I'm the best!"  
"I think it's pretty clear who's the best here!" Mike said, stepping forward.  
"Yeah, me!" Violet persisted.  
"No, me!" Mike argued.  
"No, ME!" Veruca cried.  
"ENOUGH!" Charlie yelled, silencing the trio.  
"You shut up," Mike muttered, staring at the other boy, "There is no possible way you are the best. Look at your sweater!"  
"My nana made me this sweater…" Charlie said, stroking the arm lovingly.  
"Get a room," Violet said.  
"I'm huuuuungry!" Augustus moaned, "Iz zere any food?"  
"We're at a _Chocolate_ Factory, genius," Mike snapped.  
"But we're lost!" Charlie whinged, "We'll never find our way out!"  
"Yes we will!" Mike insisted.  
"Ve'll starve!" Augustus added.  
"No we won't!" said Mike.  
"We'll never see our parents again!" Violet said sadly.  
"That's a bad thing?" Mike asked.  
"No room service…" Verca said faintly.  
"Oh for God's sake, people!" Mike said aggressively, "Get a grip! Of _course_ we won't get out if you keep up this attitude!"  
"Well what do YOU suggest Mr I-Found-A-Golden-Ticket-By-Math-Even-Though-I-Hate-Chocolate?" Violet said smarmily.  
Mike scowled and paced for a bit, "Well, I think that's obvious. We have to get moving. And fast."  
"Moving?" Veruca asked incredulously, "We don't even know where we're going, let alone how to get there!"  
"OK, fine," Mike retorted angrily, "We'll just stay still and wait for someone who may or may not be trying to save us. That'll be a hell of a lot quicker than attempting to save ourselves."  
There was a tense silence and Veruca looked sheepish.

"So," she said, "Shall we go left or right?"  
"I vote right," Violet said conclusively, then started off down the right path.  
"How are you knowing zat is ze correct vay?" Augustus asked.  
Violet gave a contemptuous snort and looked over at Mike for clarification. Mike, however, just said, "He's got a point."  
Violet stared, "Whaddya mean?"  
"You haven't even stopped to consider the different alternatives."  
"Maybe it's not needed here," Charlie interrupted, "Both paths are just as unclear as each other. They're both just…dark tunnels."  
"Yes, it seems that way," Mike said with forced patience, "But until we've really looked closely, we can't be sure."  
"Well if we can't be sure," said Violet with determination, "Then either path could be correct. Even the _right _one."  
"Oh, I get it," Mike said, crossing his arms, "You think that on the off-chance that you're right, everyone will think of you as the person to trust, whilst they'll think of me as the person who stands in the way."  
"What off-chance? There's a fifty percent chance I'm right – that's _half_, if you didn't know."  
"As it happens," Mike countered coolly, "I do know what fifty percent is, having scored double that on every math exam I've ever taken. Besides, I think you're wrong."  
He wandered down the right tunnel a few feet, looking around at the walls and ground. He kicked the soil at his feet, only to find it didn't crumble as soil usually does; instead it gathered in a creamy pile at the side of his shoes. He bent down, scooped up a bit in his fingers and sniffed it. It definitely wasn't soil. He tentatively poked out his tongue and licked a tiny bit.  
"What's wrong?" Charlie asked as Mike coughed, spluttered, choked and clawed desperately at his tongue.  
"It's _chocolate_!" he replied disgustedly.  
"Chocolate?" Charlie repeated quietly, looking around.  
"What's so surprising about that?" Veruca asked, "Most of the rest of the factory is made of chocolate. And he _is_ a chocolatier – it's to be expected, isn't it?"  
"But why underground?" Charlie said, posing it as more something to ponder over than to actually answer, "Why would he make an underground section from chocolate? No one would ever see it."  
Augustus raised a podgy arm, "Excuse me, but…_ve _have seen it."  
"Exactly."  
Veruca and Violet exchanged puzzled glances.  
"Think about it," Charlie continued, "It's exactly like Veruca said: the rest of the factory is made of chocolate. And every last inch of that factory is used for something. Which means this place must be used for something, too."  
"Used for what?" Violet asked, "It's just a huge cavern of chocolate."  
"I have a theory, actually, if anyone would like to know."  
The others nodded affirmatively.  
"Well…I think it has been created for us."  
"Us?" Veruca and Violet asked in unison.  
"Yes."  
"What, like…a kind of prison?" asked Violet.  
"I was thinking more like a challenge," Charlie replied, "Everything Wonka's ever done has only been some kind of education or challenge. Teaching us about the Chocolate Room, explaining the Oompa-Loompas, trying to find the Golden Tickets."  
"But what kind of challenge requires us to be hurtled down an underground pit away from our parents?" asked Veruca.  
"More importantly," Violet said eagerly, "When do we start?"  
"I think it already has. Do we pick the right tunnel or the left one?"  
Violet sighed, "We're right back where we started! And don't you start arguing with me again!"  
She span round to where Mike had previously been, to find he wasn't there any more.  
"Hey, where'd he go?"  
There was an eerie silence.  
"Mike?" Veruca called down the tunnel.  
A loud scuffling sound was followed by a boy's scream.


	3. Chapter Two: Desperation

**Author's note: **The show goes on…

**2. Desperation**

Mike's scream resonated around the shocked group before Violet dashed off down the tunnel at a pace that would have made cheetahs look like little old ladies with huge bags of shopping.  
"Violet! No!" Veruca yelled.  
But Violet kept running, shouting Mike's name.  
"HELP!" Mike shouted back in reply.  
Violet stopped dead, "Where are you?"  
"Down here," Mike said, his voice sounding strained, like he was putting great effort into something. Violet looked down to see he was actually putting great effort into clinging to a cliff-face to stop himself from falling down a dark pit. Violet shuffled back slowly when she realised she'd stopped barely an inch from the pit's edge.  
"Too damn dark," she muttered as she made her way backwards.  
"OW!" Mike cried as the ledge he was gripping gave way and he sank his fingers into the walls of the pit, "Damn chocolate…"  
"Don't worry, I'll get you out!" Violet called from above him, throwing herself to the ground and edging further towards him. She peered over to see his fingers slipping dangerously from the rapidly melting chocolate. She thrust her arm down and grabbed his wrist just as he fell away from the wall.  
"Jesus!" Mike exclaimed as he swung ominously over the dark pit, gradually making his way up as Violet pulled his arm.

Violet pulled for all she was worth, digging her shoes into the ground behind her and dragging the pair of them out. She felt Mike slip from her grasp and threw down her other arm to grab him.  
"Uh oh."  
Mike looked panicked at her sudden exclamation. Violet's tracksuit smeared with chocolate as her feet unstuck from the chocolate ground and she slid forward. No matter how much Mike clawed with his free hand at the wall, neither he nor Violet could prevent them toppling over into the pit. They tightened their grasps on each other and braced themselves for what could easily be a never-ending fall. It never came. They just jerked to a stop and Violet found herself hanging upside-down, a great weight around her ankles.  
"Charlie!" Mike cried upon looking up. Charlie didn't respond; he was too busy struggling to stop Violet falling any further. He was too weedy to withstand their combined weights, however, and it wasn't long before the trio found themselves slipping again.  
"Veruca! Augustus!" he shouted desperately, "Help!"  
"And get my dress dirty?" Veruca asked, "I don't think so!"  
A firm shove from Augustus sent Veruca flying, landing ungracefully at Charlie's feet. She grudgingly wrapped her arms around his legs and attempted to pull the three of them up, but she, like Charlie, was simply not strong enough. Groaning partly with effort and partly in desperation, she suddenly felt a tight hold around her waist accompanied with a faint smell of chocolate.  
"I vill get you all out," Augustus said from behind her.  
Mike's hands, lubricated from sweat, started slipping as Augustus heaved. He swung his free arm up to Violet's and clung on for dear life, swinging violently from the propulsion. His knees landed with a dull thud into the chocolate wall. Feeling refreshingly safe, he started shuffling up the wall, pushing Violet along as he did so. One swift, sharp tug from Augustus, and the five children were sent toppling onto safe ground in an uncomfortable, puffy heap.

After getting his bearings – and realising he was the one on top preventing everyone else from getting up – Mike rolled off the four squirming kids with a thump. Violet got up, helping Charlie as she did so. Augustus brought Veruca to her feet as he got to his. Mike cleared his throat nervously.  
"Er…thanks," he said, his voice quivering, "Thanks for, er….saving my life, I guess."  
The others – apart from Veruca who appeared to be mourning over her dirty dress – all smiled appreciatively.  
"And I'm sorry," Violet said, "I should have listened to you when you said to think about our choices more."  
"Hey, don't worry about it," Mike said, waving his hand dismissively, "If you'd stopped to think about throwing yourselves down that pit, then…well…I doubt I'd still be here. I suppose there's something to be said for being rash."  
"But not too often," Violet added with a small smile.  
Mike laughed, "No."  
There was a warm silence between the five kids.  
"Have…have we just matured?"  
The question came from Charlie, but it could have come from any one of them, as they were all thinking the same thing – apart from Veruca who was still upset about her dress.  
"Come on," Violet said, leaving the question open, "Let's go down the left path. But, er…let's check it out first."  
"Why?" Mike asked, "What have we got to lose?"  
"Let us just go," Augustus interrupted, "It has been almost one hour since breakfast and I am getting hungry."  
He waddled off out of the tunnel followed by Violet, Mike, Charlie and finally Veruca, who had abandoned her attempts to lick the chocolate off the skirt of her dress.


End file.
